Birds of a Feather Flock Together
by Ino2613
Summary: They were nothing at first but events began to pull them together slowly. Then the sparks started flying and the guns began shooting. Yet even after everything that happens, it still takes a while for both of them to realize why they were together to begin with. Actually, it takes them all a while to realize why they were always with each other since the beginning.
1. They Meet

**I don't own Naruto, though I really wished I did. D:**

* * *

"Looks nice out," Naruto states, looking down at his fingers as he ties a loose knot on the handkerchief around the railing. "This is worth waking up at five in the morning." Then he nods his head as he falls backward onto the bench his good friend, Sasuke sat in, observing the sun rise with him.

His friend just sits there, eyes focusing on the sun across the horizon. Then if he snaps out of a trace, Sasuke blinks several times and turns toward Naruto, pointing a finger at the handkerchief, "Why have you been doing that for the majority of our walk here?"

In reply, Naruto taps his wrist watch and says, "You'll see. There's no way you could miss it."

Sasuke gives a slight nod of his head and continues to stare out at the scene before them. It was early in the morning, much too early for them to be awake, but the beach did always look best at sunrise. The entire beach was bare of anyone as far as he could see, and behind him, stores were only beginning to open. It was calm, just so soothing, and it was _perfect_.

Naruto besides him lifts his hand to take a glance at his wristwatch, tapping his right foot as if he was expecting something to happen.

Sasuke looks at him, and then looks at himself, noting silently that Naruto was dressed …a bit too nice for a simple day out at the beach with the rest of the entourage. He, himself was dressed quite normally considering the plans were to go to the beach, which basically meant board shorts. It _was_ kind of chilly, so he also threw on a dark sweater when he made his clothing choice earlier that day, but screw the shirt.

But Naruto, now, Naruto wasn't acting his usual obnoxious self, not that Sasuke wants him to, it was just …strange. Was Naruto hoping for someone else to come? He was dressed as if he was impressing a girl.

"Tch," Sasuke unconsciously mutters as the thought crosses his mind. Did Naruto move on from his "beloved" Sakura? Unlikely.

The sound was a slight murmur at first, but then it grew distinctive into the sound of roller blades. And Sasuke clutches his head, who in a sane world would be roller-blading at fucken five in the morning? What happened to his peaceful morning?

"I win!" a girl shouts, tugging the handkerchief free of the railing Naruto had tied it to a variable number of minutes before.

Sasuke just stares at the girl, and he realizes, she is absolutely spellbinding. Her long, platinum-blonde strands were pulled back into a high ponytail with the exception of her bangs, which she had left untouched and parted to the right side of her face. There's a small red clip in the left side of her head, holding back more hair, and then she lifts a hand (Sasuke sees this all in hyper vision) and brushes her fringe back. He notices from a distance that she has a straight nose, maybe with a slight upturn, but it's barely there to even be noticed; it's cute he concludes. He also notices her lips, which are pretty, and he decides that it wouldn't be too bad to have them on his. Overall, he concludes that she's exceptionally pretty, neck up anyway.

She's skating in circles now, both arms up in the air and completely oblivious to the two girls approaching with water balloons in their hands. She opens her eyes a little bit too late and when she sees her friends launch the water balloons, she's already drenched.

The dark haired male on the bench looks at her, approving silently of how her loose tank top that originally hung over her large breasts now stuck to her like a second skin and those already tight shorts weren't helping. She was curvy, in a model kind of way, but she wasn't throwing it around and Sasuke wonders, how it would _all_ look _naked_. Oh, he was such a closet pervert.

He was expecting a screech of fury, especially since it was obvious water balloons weren't planned but instead, a soft giggle escapes her lips instead. The sound creates a slight pull of his lips but instead, Sasuke just brings a hand over his mouth to conceal it, still observing the blonde.

Her smile is bright and she plays off the surprise only to be surprised by slipping on water of the boardwalk. Another girl, one Sasuke presumes to be a friend of the blonde roller-blades over, and pushes the blonde up before she could fall. The girl that had helped the blonde – she was a tee bit shorter–she had dark hair, almost a navy color like his, and quite honestly- a not bad body. Her new friend skated about with a shy smile on her face, always tugging on her violet sweater cautiously.

Sasuke then turns his attention onto the girl that had thrown the water balloon after studying the blonde's friend. The girl was about the same height as the blonde – at least in skates – and she had her chocolate brown hair tied and twisted into two buns on top of her head. She had an athletic body, something Sasuke couldn't help but notice.

Naruto stands up suddenly and Sasuke tilts his head to see the person Naruto had stood up to greet. There is a goofy, sort-of love sick smile on Naruto's face and Sasuke just gives him a look, a look Naruto ceases to even notice. "Sakura," he shouts.

A pink-haired girl – one Sasuke just assumes is Sakura – also rolls toward them in rollerblades, breathy and obviously tired. Ignoring Naruto's words, the girl points an accusing finger to the blonde and says, "You cheated, Ino! I said jumping over railings weren't allowed!"

Sasuke looks over at the blonde. Ino – that was her name.

Ino sticks her tongue out childishly and then skates around in a circle. "I didn't jump over," she says. "I gracefully flipped over." She easily demonstrates it when she places the palm of her hand on the railing, and flips over – kind of like in a cartwheel – surviving to the other side. Then she tosses her sleek ponytail over one shoulder, a smile growing when she sees her friend's face growing pink.

Behind his hand, Sasuke smirks a tiny bit. She obviously had more confident than an alpha lion.

Then their eyes meet and Sasuke notices her eyes are a stunning blue. How had he missed that? They're not as bright and sparkly as Naruto's, rather a blue that matched the sky. It was a color that could seem like a thunderstorm or a sunny day. It was weird, but memorable and sort of unique.

His eyes were nothing special –although his mother always said they were so dark the pupil couldn't ever be distinguished.

Their eyes meet in long seconds, and Sasuke slowly pulls away, focusing his attention down at her skates instead, which were stubbornly sinking into the sand of the beach, perhaps she hadn't noticed she had chosen to flip onto the beach and not the boardwalk?

Apparently Sasuke wasn't the only one that had noticed because the girl with chocolate brown hair says, "Do you need help with that, Ino?" She leans over the railing, smirking deviously. And somewhere, in the back of Sasuke's head she's beginning to look somehow familiar, had he met her somewhere before, seen her somewhere?

"No! I can get out myself!" Ino says, pulling at her feet. Her eyes graze over Sasuke and he notices, giving a tweak of a smile to her.

Naruto beside him elbows him and Sasuke looks at him. "What?"

"Remember Sakura? You said back in the beginning of high school that she would never agree to be my girlfriend-" and Sasuke grows, letting his head hang. He knew where this conversation was going. He could almost _feel_ Naruto's smirk. "Fork it over," he says, and then holds a hand out, his pride growing by the second.

Sasuke reaches into his sweater, pulls out a leather wallet and looks through it, searching for the bill. Naruto fakes a cough beside him. "Remember," Naruto says, "The largest bill in your wallet." Sasuke regrettably pulls it out, handing it to Naruto. "Thank you. Now I can pay for my date tonight."

"Asshole."

And then to prove that Naruto wasn't lying, Sakura willingly pulls Naruto forward by his collar, planting a kiss on his lips. Then she plants one knee on one side of Naruto's legs and a hand on his shoulder to steady herself. She twists her torso around and then waves a hand over her head, obviously trying to catch someone's attention. "Ino, come over here!"

In the background, after hearing Sakura call her name, Ino was creating quite a humorous scene. She was too prideful to ask for help, resulting in the chocolate haired girl having to take her skates off to walk in the sand to help Ino out. "I don't need your help, Tenten!" Ino says, dragging herself deeper into sand as her friend approaches.

"Oh shut up, you big baby," she mutters and then bends down to pull Ino's rollerblade out of the sand. "The sand's loose here, if you landed any closer your foot would be stuck underneath the boardwalk, don't ever do that again," Tenten lectures.

Ino nods her head and Sasuke couldn't help himself but think of how childish the scene looked. Then she leaned back, her long blonde ponytail falling onto the opposite side of the railing. "You ready?" Tenten asks, a hand set on Ino's other rollerblade. In response, Ino nods.

It was an unbelievable sight, something Sasuke had never seen someone do and he hadn't thought it was possible, but she had done it. The blonde – Ino – had somehow managed to flip backwards over the railing and land on both feet. She twirled around in a big circle before skating over toward them, a smile on her face. "Sakura, I can't stop! Help me!" she shouts, closing her eyes as she came closer.

It was a reflex. Before Sakura could respond, Ino was already in front of them, her hands in Sasuke's.

Upon feeling the contact, she opened her eyes, blue shining into his. "Hey you, thanks for the help," she says flirtatiously then she puts a hand on her hip. "You're cute." She then places her left knee onto the bench, the same way Sakura had and leans a tiny bit forward.

From where he sat – because of her wet shirt – he could see the defined outline of her bra. Sakura coughs, giving Ino a look of shame before saying, "You have a boyfriend, Ino."

Ino turns away from staring at the shops behind Sasuke and replies, "Uhm, I know. I can always point out the cute guys though." Her eyes fell onto the man in front of her and she extends a hand out. "Hi, I'm Ino Yamanaka," she says and then smiles.

Her name strikes him hard. Yamanaka. He is a government worker and he's pretty sure that just last month, he had done a case about Inoichi Yamanaka. He had been proclaimed missing. Not to mention, he had done a case on Deidara Yamanaka as well, he too had gone missing. How could she smile so easily?

"Sasuke Uchiha," he replies, and takes her hand, gives it just a firm shake, and then releases it.

She does the same to Naruto. Then she skates off with Sakura.

"Is she the daughter and sister of those two that disappeared?" Sasuke asks immediately after they've left.

Naruto scratches his bare abdomen inappropriately and then leans forward; seriousness can only be seen on his face. "Yep."

"She smiles so easily," Sasuke notes back. "Sort of like you."

"Yeah, I know. A month has barely passed and instead of cooping up in her house, she's out here, still smiling like nothing's changed." Then, suddenly changing the subject, Naruto nudges him. "I saw you giving her the eye. You think she's hot."

"She has a boyfriend," Sasuke says and then stands up, stretching two arms above his head.

Then Naruto gets up behind him and stands on the bench. "Doesn't matter," he says. "You didn't deny it. But to be honest, you'll never have a shot with her. She's so happy with her boyfriend." Then he jumps off the bench.

Sasuke shakes his head. "Insignificance," he just says and then makes his way to the sand of the beach, leaving Naruto behind.

"Shika!" a voice immediately squeals.

Sasuke – somehow already so prone to her voice – twists his body around to see who this 'Shika' was. It was that perpetually lazy bum of a computer operator Shikamaru Nara. How had someone like him gotten someone like her? It was so bemusing to see – people like her would usually go out with people like him, not Shikamaru.

Shikamaru arrives with many things with him. He carries in a cage with a purple blanket covering it, several umbrellas underneath his arms, and another woman. This woman, she's curvy and carries a bubble of intimidation around her as she walks. She's blonde and styles her hair in a peculiar style – four ponytails.

Ino immediately skates toward them, both hands spread out. One hand met its target and Shikamaru entwines his fingers with her, spinning her around with a hand on her waist to kiss her. She's obviously surprised by his actions but instead of saying anything, she just places a hand on the side of his face and kisses him back.

Naruto's somewhere – Sasuke doesn't particularly care – but he's somewhere with Ino's friends so Sasuke, haven't nothing to do because his peace was disturbed just stares at them. And he's there – in his board shorts, flip-flops, and dark sweater, bare-chested – kind of just looking at them.

The mystery blonde Shikamaru had brought notices him first and gives a sort of flirtatious wave. Sasuke ignores her attempt but instead focuses his attention on the couple as they move away from each other. Ino's cheeks are flushed a light pink and her fingers are still entwined in his. She looks stunning and radiating.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's voice calls and he turns around just in time to see a ball – particularly volleyball – fly for his face. At the height the ball was in the air, Sasuke easily steps forward and positions his hands correctly just in time for the ball to settle onto his fingertips. He would have never thought that his skills of a volleyball player would still be with him, but he was wrong. Just before the ball really leaves his hand, he sees Naruto's form jump over the railing and onto the beach, waiting to receive, and he sends it over in his direction.

Sakura runs up right next to Naruto, her roller-blades suddenly off her feet and hand position set up in the air to gently tap the volleyball higher into the air right after Naruto had received it. His friend is smirking and immediately he knows where the ball would be aimed at. And he runs for that invisible corner in the sand.

Sasuke ends up on his stomach, his body all over the sand the exception of his arm, which he brings up to hit the ball. Then he sees toes with a sky blue polish rush ahead to hit the ball again. He doesn't even bother to get up a few seconds because the view of Ino from below is enchanting. But when he does, slowly and already losing the adrenaline of the game, he sees Naruto giving a knowing smirk.

Inwardly he groans, curse himself for not hiding it more, now Naruto would forever hold it against him. "Can I join?" Ino chirps, already knowing the answer.

And Sasuke tilts his head, gives a small smile, and says, "Sure, you're on my team."

Ino's face flashes with surprise for a mere second and nods her head. This guy, he's _different _and strikingly mind-etching, as she found out later.

-o-o-

The elevator door of his hotel makes a small _ding!_ sound and Sasuke walks out in small steps, completely drowning in the information displayed on his Smartphone. The small sounds of sniffling in the background were growing increasing louder in the direction he was walking in. Then slowly, he looks up over his phone to see Ino, practically sitting on the floor, wiping a tissue against her nose.

She looks up at him with big, blue eyes and he looks down at her.

It's quiet for a few seconds before he says, "Why are you out here? Aren't you sharing a room with Sakura?"

Ino replies with a small sniffle. "I got sexiled." She lifts her tissue to brush it against her nose. "Naruto's in there with Sakura. When I came back she threw me my jammies and told me to find you."

"Hn," Sasuke says and then extends a hand, which she accepts.

He takes a good look at her. She's wearing a dark purple dress with thin straps that ends slightly above her knees. Her hair is pinned up in an elegant bun, except for a few loose trestles and her bangs, which she had clipped to the side of her head instead.

Sasuke looks away. "Follow me. Would you minds sleeping in Naruto's bed?" Sasuke spins around and asks, then makes a small gesture with his hand.

"Nope," she softly replies, her eyes set on the ground then they flicker onto the broad shoulders of the man walking in front of her. "Hey, what do you do for a living?"

There was a long delay of a reply before he says, "I'm a law enforcer." After answering, Sasuke turns toward a door and sticks the hotel key into its tiny slit before twisting it. From the corner of his eyes, he notices a slight nod. "Like a policemen. That's cool," she only says, deliberately ending the small talk as she steps through the door.

He brings a hand up to run it through his hair in frustration after turning back around to stare at her long, swinging ponytail. Ino was so strange. She was so energetic just earlier that day on the beach. Just what had happened those few hours after leaving the beach with Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata?

Nothing – nothing had happened. And casting his thoughts aside, he sweeps his hand toward a door. "It's late. You could use the bathroom first. I'll check Naruto's room to see if it's still suitable for human life."

A miniscule smile tugs at her lips and she walks off holding a small bundle of clothes in her hands. "I appreciate it," she says softly before leaving the room.

He didn't know why, but he had a soft spot for her. Maybe it was because she was pretty – but then again, he was never a sucker for pretty girls. No, it was probably the fact that he could relate to her, after all, his parents and brother had gone missing as well. The attraction was based of …empathy? Sasuke shook his head at this thought. Why did one girl, who wasn't even single for crying out loud, making him analyze the situation so deeply? She had gotten into his head!

Upon realizing that several minutes had passed since he had drift from original plans, he walks over to Naruto's room and pushes the door open. Horror – that was his first thought. How had Naruto managed to make a hotel room so messy not even within an entire day? And half the crap on his bed, like when the fuck did he buy it?!

Irritated, Sasuke steps back and just slams the door. He wasn't going to touch that bed. And just at that second, his phone starts to vibrate in his pocket, so he pulls it out. "Hello?"

"Oh, hey, Sasuke. Um… I brought Ino's stuff over. You mind if she stays with you and Naruto stays with me?" Sakura's voice is breathy, like she was tired. Hn, he bet she was, from that Naruto probably rocking their bed or something. "I'm outside your door."

He makes his way back to the door, across the room in several giant steps, and when he turns the knob open, he sees Sakura there, wearing a pink silk robe and holding a fairly small suitcase. "Sorry, does Ino mind? I know today is _that_ day for her."

Before he could raise an eyebrow, Sakura raises two hands. "Wait, that came out the wrong way. Today is the day her …oh geez, I don't know if I should be telling you this but her father disappeared today when she was fifteen."

Everything, almost everything, starts to make sense to him, and Sasuke tilts his head back just slightly to see the bathroom door. Was that why she was suddenly seemingly so depressed? "I won't tell her you told me," he simply replies, and then takes the suitcase in his right hand. "Enjoy your time with that idiot," he just says, and when he sees Sakura give him a small smile and turn away, he slowly shuts the door.

-o-o-

Ino was not sleeping, she couldn't. How could she? The good memories of her missing father reminisced through her head and she held back a loud sniffle so that she wouldn't disturb the man lying asleep next to her.

Nothing happened between them, she swore, she already had a boyfriend from Christ's sake! But back to her current point, she was miserable. She probably also looked horrible, with her eyes all puffy and everything.

The blonde sniffles again and pulls at her long blonde trestles as she turns to her right to stare away from Sasuke. His silhouette moves as an entire mass and shakes the bed. "Sorry," Ino just squeaks out nervously, but when the silhouette seems to unconsciously throw his blanket off himself, she sits up, shaking the bed as well. "Sasuke, are you alri-" she meets a surprising scene.

There are beads of sweat on Sasuke's forehead and his skin seems to be a bit paler than usual, a bit damp as well. Her maternal instincts kick in and she forgets about her stupid wads of tissues full of tears. She places a hand gently onto Sasuke's right shoulder and gives a slight shake.

It was only a slight shake, barely even brash enough to wake a small kitten, but before Ino's brain could even register it, she's on her back. Sasuke's face is hovering dangerously close to hers, but that's not what she pays her attention on, it's the wild look in his eyes, which have turned his ebony eyes into blood red. His eyes are looking at her but not looking at her at the same time. His teeth are clenched and his face is etched with an angry expression.

Once she notices all of him her brain starts to kick in and she feels his left hand press here right shoulder increasingly painfully. Then, the last thing that she realizes really should have been the first. It was a gun, one with a beautiful, sort of grainy, silvery covering. And it was pressed against the direct center of her forehead.

It was an eerie few seconds before Sasuke blinks and realizes what he had done. He looks at himself and gives a small frown; he's straddling a girl in a thin tank-top and shorts. "Sorry," he says, and glances down so his bangs cover his eyes as they faded away into black again. "Sorry," he repeats, and then he removes himself from her personal space.

"It's fine. Everyone gets nightmares," she says nonchalantly as she hugs her knees and rests her head on them. Her head is turned in his direction and he looks back for a second.

There's a look in her blue eyes that seems to scream that there's more there. That there was a deeper meaning to it, but Sasuke just gave her a second glance, making sure to keep the image of her right there in his mind for a bit.

She looks stunning, staring at him with blue eyes that glowed in the dark. She had all of her hair tossed over her right shoulder, her head slightly tilted to look at him.

He just turns around instead and heads for the bathroom, running a hand through his damp hair. All the while just hoping she doesn't notice his not-so-little morning problem.

Ino looks at his retreating form, and then down at her knees. What had he dreamed and what happened to make him into _that_? Whatever, she thinks, and then lies back down onto the bed while hugging her pillow. She'll never see him again after this anyway.

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**A/N: I AM BACK. Not really, not with all my schoolwork. This was something I just ...had to write out. It took me a few months too but I think it came out pretty consistent with what I wanted it to be.**

**I really hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter, I really want to continue this one to see where my ideas take me. About my others, I might take a really long break from them (yeah, I know, it's been a long break already for them). It might also be a while before another chapter of this is coming out, but until then, I hope you guys really stick with me. :]**

**If you guys liked/hated it, tell me what you did/didn't like. So ...review, tell me what you though. :]**


	2. And Now It Begins

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **_

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It was a stormy night. The sky was crowded with dark thunderclouds and every once in a while, even a bright beam of lightning accompanied with the oh-so-beautiful sound of pattering rain. And it was on this kind of night that Ino found herself lying on their giant bed, waiting for the other half of the 'their' to arrive back home after an entire week away.

She's lying on the right side of the bed, and then turns onto her left shoulder as her platinum-blonde strands of hair sprawls everywhere. A soft sigh escapes from her pink lips and she sits up, crossing her arms underneath her chest and taking a small glance at the clock at the same time.

It glows a faint 2:57 AM. Then her cell phone right beside it flashes a blinding white light and she leans over to swoop it up. Without looking at the ID, she answers, "Hello?"

"Oh, um, Ino. Open the door, I have Shikamaru." There's a soft sound of a groan and rustling in the background before the deep voice says, "I'll ring the doorbell now." And at that exact moment the doorbell rings softly.

Ino doesn't really care about her appearance by then and she tumbles down the stairs in her sky-blue nightie. When she reaches the door she hesitantly reaches for the doorknob and peeps through the hole, then she swings the door open, reaching for Shikamaru.

Except the scene her eyes meet with is awkward and …unusual. Sasuke is standing there in a dark suit, a silk navy, looking good, except for the noticeable bandage around his forehead. But in addition to that, he had Shikamaru thrown over one shoulder, which made Ino give a double take because she knows Shikamaru, and he's not that light a guy despite his lack of exercising to accumulate muscles.

Sasuke standing there shifts Shikamaru on his right shoulder and looks at Ino. She's in a light nightie that flows just to the middle of her thighs, not necessarily revealing much cleavage, but her body shape was greatly emphasized by the way the nightie wrinkled at her waist and smoothed itself out at her breasts and hips.

She looks at him and bites her bottom lip, unsure of what to do. "Oh wait, come into the house, and just stand on the mat. I don't want you to get the house all wet." She throws all of her hair over one shoulder and turns around to run off to the nearest closet.

At that moment, Sasuke turns around to see what mat she had referred to, and he notices the light contour of a bra-like structure built into the nightie to give a supportive effect. He must have been staring too closely to have noticed it so he turns away to avoid him noticing any more he shouldn't.

Ino returns with an armful of towels and sets them all on the nearest couch. "Here," she says as she pats a towel, "Put Shikamaru here, and you sit here," she finishes, patting another towel. "Um …what's wrong with Shikamaru? He's not that heavy a sleeper."

She helps Sasuke unload Shikamaru to the couch, and then she hands him a towel for his hair while helping her boyfriend's. "We drugged him," Sasuke replies.

"What?!"

"I mean, we drugged him because he was overworking himself. He should wake up in a bit."

"Oh." There is a moment of awkward silence until Ino finishes drying her boyfriend as best as she could. "Do you want to stay? It's a complete downpour outside."

Sasuke stands up, his hair slightly damp, and says, "No thank you. Tell me, did I disturb you with my phone call?"

The happy, cheerful girl he remembers from the beach disappears and the aura around her seems to turn a tad gloomy. "No, I was sleeping. I was waiting for Shikamaru to come home." The slight groan heard in the background makes both of their heads snap to see Shikamaru just slowly arising. He's got her attention, and Ino shoos him to go take a shower and relax, to which Shikamaru simply nods and walks away like a child in a daze.

Satisfied with Ino's answer, he nods his head. "Alright, I just wanted to know," he says, and then makes his way toward the door, unlocking and turning the knob along his way. "Nara is lucky to have someone like you waiting for him every day," he says, and then closes the door behind him.

Unsure of how to reply to the comment, she gives a small smile that he briefly sees before closing the door behind him.

"Ino," Shikamaru's voice calls.

"Hm?" Ino stands up to walk up the stairs of their house, toward the bathroom.

Shikamaru's head is sticking out of the bathroom and he gives her a tired smile. "Don't heat up whatever you planned for dinner. Just go to bed. I probably worry you to hell with my job sometimes…" He runs a hand through his loose hair and looks up when he doesn't hear Ino move. "Hm, Ino, aren't you tir– "

"Don't ever leave me for a week and come back slung over Sasuke's shoulder like that ever again!" Her body ran into his, her head buried in his chest. "Not ever – ever – ever – ever again!" she said, shaking her head with every word.

He felt his shirt staring to get wet and he sighs. Placing a hand on the back of her head, he says, "Man …you're so troublesome…"

-o-o-

Sakura pulls off her peach cardigan and hangs it on a hook, replacing it with her lab coat. Then she surveys her office, picking up the picture of her and Naruto. It was taken the day she had introduced Ino to Sasuke, when they were at the beach. Sakura just gives it a small smile and places it back down, picks up her clipboard and walks out of the office, letting the door slam behind her.

Then Sakura hears her name being called. "Sakura, wait!" and she turns around to see Sasuke rushing toward her, bandages wrapped around his forehead. He's in what she usually sees him in when he's working, a suit with a tie and usually with his sunglasses on, which he currently had hanging out of his pocket. "Quick checkup please?" he asks after he catches up with her.

The pink-haired woman looks at her clipboard. "Hmm…" she thinks out-loud. Sasuke standing there is practically begging with his eyes, something Sakura knows is definitely uncommon and must mean he's in a hurry. "No," she replies, and walks off.

Sasuke stands there, stunned for several seconds before following her. "Wait, what do you mean 'no'? I have a mission or whatever to go to. Uncle needs your permission to let me go, I'm healed now, just write it on a piece of paper so –"

"Sasuke," she says, giving him a stern look that shuts him up, "I said no."

"W-What, why?!" Sakura turns around and looks Sasuke up and down, giving him a weird look. He was acting extremely out of character, and it honestly gave Sakura he chills. "I have to go, it involves Itachi. I have to go," he says.

"Sasuke,"

"What?!"

Sakura gives him a stern glare and Sasuke straightens his back and crosses his arm, looking more like a government official rather than a whiney twenty year old. "Stop acting like Naruto and I'm not going to give you permission. Especially you."

"You're still not giving me a proper reason why."

"Because I know you're going to do something stupid."

"Aargggh, why did Uncle Obito give you authority over me?!" Sasuke clutches onto his head and scowls when Sakura turns around to give him a look. "Stop giving me that face."

She does it again anyway. Then she flings her hand out to the left and says, "Here, go into this room. She'll give you a checkup instead of me. My shift didn't even start yet." Sakura swings the door open and walks in, two hands behind her head in a lazy manner. "Heeelllo," she says, "I need you to give this big baby a checkup. Give him a lollipop afterwards." Then he hears her feet shift suddenly. "Do that somewhere else rather than the hospital!"

He follows in, curious, and ends up seeing Ino just slowly pull her lips away from Shikamaru as she sat on top of the hospital bed. She was in a thin-strapped, sky-blue dress with her lab coat pulled off her shoulders. "You wouldn't have had to see it if you just knocked, Sakura," the blonde says as she fixes her lab coat on herself and pushes Shikamaru away from her.

Shikamaru gives Sasuke a brief, lazy smile and then returns to observing his girlfriend, who was smoothing the wrinkles she had made on the bed. Then she turns around sees Sasuke and gives him a bright smile. "Hi, Sasuke. Sit here." She pats the hospital bed as Shikamaru settles himself next to where Sakura stood, whispering things into her ear to which she nods and smirks at Sasuke in reply.

From the corner of his eye, Sasuke notices all of this and looks at them uncertainly. Then Ino taps his jacket and orders, "Take this off." He obeys, hunching as he sat down on the hospital bed. As he sits, Ino is scribbling away on the piece of paper clipped to her clipboard. "Okay, watchu here for?" she asks right after Sasuke just starts to zone out.

"Quick checkup and I need you to change the wound on my head."

"Sure, sure. Can you unbutton your shit a bit? Let me check your heart," Ino says, taking a stethoscope out of her white pocket. She stands there for a few seconds as Sasuke slowly unbuttons his shirt, and after reaching one-third of the way down he just sort of gives up. Ino raises an eyebrow at him but says nothing as she slips her hand underneath his shirt and tugs her stethoscope on properly.

As Ino leans closer to him and moves the cold metal piece over his chest, Sasuke turns to take a peek at Shikamaru and Sakura, who were both sharing a knowing look. He gives them a suspicious face and brings his attention back to Ino just as she slaps his chest with the back of her hand. "Alrighty, let me take your weight and height."

When he steps on the scale the little arrow escalates and he pulls at his collar nervously. Ino looks at the scale, "Huh?" then she kicks it. "Um …is it broken?" she motions for him to step off, and he obeys. She inspects the scale and concludes that there's nothing wrong, they try again to receive the same result. The blonde doctor just sucks her teeth and gestures Sasuke to move away from the scale, saying, "I'll have to check that scale later …it's wrong. You can't be that …heavy. It's …I don't know. Whatever."

The height examination goes pass fast and before Sasuke realizes, he's back on the damn hospital bed except this time, Ino is finally unwrapping the worn bandages around his head. "Oh wow, this is really minor. You'll be fine, there's probably not going to be a scar afterwards," she says, poking at his wound gently. She giggles childishly, "Hehe, let me put some ointment on this…" and immediately afterwards, she does as she says. Then quickly, faster than anything he has ever seen before, he's sitting there with a lollipop shoved into his mouth as she slaps on two band-aids for his little cut.

Slowly, as if his mind is finally awaking from its nap, he slides off the hospital bed, lollipop still in mouth. Sasuke's not a fan of sweet things, not a fan at all. But for a weird reason, he feels that he'll do his once-a-day sacrifice to finish this lollipop. Then, as his final decision is made, he stands up and turns away from Ino, bowing just a tiny bit.

"Wait, Sasuke," she calls at him.

The dark-haired male turns around and lets their eyes meet. Her pretty sky-blue ones are twinkling and giving a mysteriously suspicious glint, when this thought hits him, he becomes suddenly aware of Ino yanking the lollipop out of his mouth to harshly jab the left side of his abdomen. A jolt of pain rushes through his body, centered on his left and he leans forward, eyes bulging and gasping for air.

Shikamaru and Sakura erupt into a fit of chuckles and giggles as Sasuke turns around to catch his breath against the hospital bed. He couldn't see her, but he felt as if Ino had a small, sympathetic smile on her face.

He felt her hand gently touch his shoulder and he was expecting a beautiful, kind face with blue eyes but met eyes with a giggling pink-haired woman instead. Her lips were stretched wide, teeth showing as she laughed uncontrollably and he mentally slaps himself for expecting it to always be Ino comforting him. She points a finger at him immaturely, "Did you really expect you'll slip a rib injury pass me?"

The pain was finally beginning to soothe out and Sasuke replies, "Then why did you bother bringing me here?"

"Because I knew your reaction to …certain things were interesting to see," Sakura says, a devilish glint in her eyes. She prances around the hospital bed and then she reaches into Sasuke's pocket to pull out a square-ish piece of paper, this makes Sasuke give Sakura a menacing glare. Finally with a small smile, she tears it in half. "You won't be going on any 'operation' until those bones heal," she states coldly, any sign of her previous laughter vanishing.

Sasuke could feel himself losing his cool and his fists clenches; he looks at Sakura, who holds a very satisfied smirk on her face. She gives him a commanding look and looks over Sasuke's shoulder smiling at Ino, personality completely distorting. "You can leave, Ino. You're two hours over your shift."

He hears Ino give a breathy yawn. "Okay, Saku. Whatever you say…" Then he feels her hand brush against his left shoulder. "Sorry about hurting you," he hears her say. It's quiet for a few seconds then there are slight sounds of shuffling feet. "Shikamaru, take me home!" her voice squeals, and a grunt by Shikamaru is given in reply. He hears a squeak when the door opens and then a loud _bang_ when it slams shut.

There's a few seconds of complete silence in the room before Sasuke sighs and turns around. Sakura is immediately in his face, unbuttoning his shirt hastily. He looks around him and says, "You know, if someone walks into this room, they're going to have the wrong idea." He cautiously takes a hold of her hand and pushes it off, unbuttoning the shirt himself.

The second he looks down at his shirt to count the number of buttons left, he sees a hand reach up at his face. His face jerks to the right and he has to hear the sound of flesh meeting flesh before he realizes what had happened.

"You're a fucking idiot," Sasuke states, her pink hair covering the front of her face.

"Uhm," Sasuke hums in agreement, pulling at the last button. Then he hisses when Sakura pushes at his left abdomen. "What are you doing?"

She continues to poke at it, with more force behind each poke. "What the hell were you doing that resulted in you getting several broken ribs?!" she asks, slapping a hand against his abdomen.

Sasuke doubles over in pain, forehead meeting the hospital bed. He's debating whether he should tell her the truth, that he had gotten in a fight with her beloved Naruto and he had, in a dickful move, thrown the fucking TV set at him …and other things. Not to mention it was over something stupid. "I got hit by a car," he lies.

She gives him a look, a look that sort of screams that she one hundred percent does not believe him, but she doesn't push the issue further. Instead, Sakura just sneaks a hand from behind him to place it over his injured area, which was starting to show internal bruises and her hand starts to glow green. "Feeling better?" she asks.

He grunts as a reply. He knows that she knows he's not there to get a few broken ribs healed and he's just waiting for her to bring it up. He tries to make his disinterest obvious to her and after a few awkward minutes, she finally remembers.

It's obvious when she realizes it because she goes shuffling through the draws around her, and then in the pockets of her coat. The little …thing she was looking for was just a piece of paper folded twice, and she throws it at Sasuke, who opens it and then takes one look at it before holding it to her face. "What does this mean?" he says and Sakura stares. She just stares because this man can put a bullet through a man's heart with brilliant aim but he can't understand a few medical words on paper?

The pink-haired woman snatches the paper from his hands and shoves it into Sasuke's face. "It says she has the mutation. She's a mutate, a power user but I don't think she knows it though…" she looks at the paper, eyes scanning over the words once more before folding it and sliding it back into her pocket. "Maybe it's not helpful…" Sakura presses her hand over Sasuke's forehead, right over his cut. Then she moves away from Sasuke, uncertainty written all over her face. "Hey, what's your power …I've never seen you use it."

Sasuke rips the bandages on or around his head with his left hand then he opens his mouth and gives off a soft breath, which enlarges as it leaves his mouth to float onto his right hand. He didn't stop there. He then discarded his bandages and held his left hand out, which began to flicker with lightning as the sound of chirping birds began to fill the room. It only lasts for a few seconds, and then he fists his hands. "I can do more than just that," he says and then turns to look out of the window, "I think all of the mutations relate somehow to Mother Nature… they aren't complicated."

Sakura nods her head in agreement then she turns her head toward Sasuke to easily catch his attention. "Hey, sorry about earlier-"

"Tch, should be," Sasuke interrupts.

"At least be grateful."

"For what?"

The door slams open and Sasuke sighs, he already knows who it is. "Sa-ku-ra! Let's go out for lun– " Naruto has wide ocean-blue eyes as he stares at Sasuke, and then he lifts a finger, pointing it in Sasuke's direction. "Why is his shirt off? Are you cheating on me?" he asked, eyes worried.

Sasuke just turns his head away from the window and towards Naruto with cool, collected, eyes, which undeniably drove Naruto over the edge. "Aarrrrgggh!" His blonde friend lunges forward, like a tiger would for a tasty meal, and he catches Sasuke's neck with his hands, completely knocking him off the hospital bed. Naruto had the upper hand, ruthlessly throwing punches at Sasuke. Sasuke sees it before anyone notices it, so he stops fighting back earlier than Naruto. What he sees is the door opening.

His pretty blonde doctor pokes her head in. "Sorry, Sakura. I forgot my keys, I hope – " She takes one look at the scene which was …actually _quite_ a scene. The hospital bed was pushed into its own corner and Sakura sat on the edge of it, looking mildly bored. The wide space exposed was taken by two men. Sasuke was on the bottom, jacket long pulled off and casted to the side, and button-up shirt unbuttoned to expose (she had to admit) some mighty fine abdomen muscles. He looks sort of annoyed, but nothing else. His expression is otherwise unreadable. Another clothed man straddled on top of him, who she instantaneously recognizes as Naruto. Ino doesn't quite remember clearly, but from what she's heard, Naruto has quite a body, quite and when she just sees the both of them together, her face just flushes a deep pink. Something shiny catches her eyes and she reaches with a hand to grab it. "Ohhereitisbye!" she squeals, and then she's gone.

It was awkward. Insanely awkward for the next few seconds. Sasuke's not sure …but why hasn't Naruto removed hismelf from his crotch yet? Just why?

Sakura is the first to make the move. "Get off Sasuke, Naruto. You guys look …homosexual." She straightens her posture and then reaches into the pocket to produce the same paper she had shown Sasuke earlier. When she leans over to pass Naruto the paper as soon as he stands up, she notices his ocean-blue eyes watering and looking up at her so to resolve the previous issue she mutters, "And I'm not cheating on you."

Naruto is like a child, and his eyes immediately brighten as he reaches for the paper. He scans it for a few seconds and then looks up with the same clueless expression Sasuke had when he had his hands on the paper. "What does this say?"

She makes a noise by sucking her teeth, a sound of utter annoyance and disappointment in the both of them. "She has the mutation! She's like us!" Sakura points at the door, trying to hint that the blonde female that had stepped in previously was who she was talking about.

Sakura's boyfriend just gives her a blank expression and then points at the door with a weak finger. "Why are you pointing at the door…?"

"I'M TALKING ABOUT INO!"

"O …kay? Why are you making such a big deal over this?"

Sasuke nods in agreement, getting up from the floor and buttoning his shirt. "Once she finds out herself, she'll probably end up being some government worker like us. But," he says, leaning onto a wooden desk, "It's not that bad as a government worker. Life is interesting."

Sakura walks over to Naruto, who immediately wraps his arms around her petite waist. She makes a face at Sasuke, a face that says 'Liar'. "You're probably not even classified as a government worker. You're a sniper and in addition to that …you do other stuff. You know, when you disappear for months and probably spam your power somewhere against other power users." When she notices Sasuke opening his mouth to protest, she continues, "I don't know what you guys do, all I know is that it's freakin' dangerous and involves those powers of yours. I swear, half of the power users come to me to get their bones fixed and like how do you guys even break your bones? The mutation makes your bones denser and stronger, which also leads to a better immune system and an immense increase of myofibrils and that kind of shit, so I just don't fucking underst-."

"Sakura," Naruto says in a light, happy tone, "calm the fuck down. Anyway back to the topic of Ino and away from your rant," his eyes grow dark and his voice deepens and lowers into a whisper, "Keep a eye on her. Every time someone realizes they or someone else has the mutation, the entire world just gets fucked up. Media is going to be climbing for her window if it gets out. Remember, mutates are private. No one other than the mutates themselves and some higher-ups should know about this. We're practically a new species, so keep your mouths shut."

"Tch, you don't need to tell us, Idiot," Sasuke asserts and then crosses his arms as he leans on the door.

He notices Sakura and Naruto share a look and then it happens. "So, how was your check-up, Sasuke?" Sakura begins.

"Ooo~, Sasu-chan had a check-up? Who took a look at him today?" Naruto adds, insisting to shove the suffix in there.

Sasuke couldn't help but groan. What did he do that resulted in both of them ending up together and prying at his own life? He should have just dated Sakura and kept them separate from each other. Damn.

"Ino took a look at him today, telling him to take off his shirt so she could check how his heart was doing."

"Pfft, I bet it was pumping a shitload faster, sending all that blood to a certain area. You enjoyed the touch of her skin against yours, eh?"

He turns around to look at the wall so that he could only hear the both of them laughing in the background. Their laughing was turning increasingly more like a witch's cackle than anything else. He clears his throat and holds his left hand out, wrapping his right hand around his left wrist. "Huh? Sasuke, what are you going to do?" Naruto asks. Then the blonde notices a sudden flicker of lightning spiking off Sasuke's hand and he realizes what it is and backs himself against the opposite corner. "What …no, Sasuke! Not that again!"

Sakura stops laughing at that second to witness Sasuke's lightning shoot off his hand, hit against the wall, and bounce back in a perfect angle in a move to electrocute her boyfriend and in she just stands there, stunned. She's not sure what to do as her boyfriend cries out in pain. _Whatever_, she thinks, _they're mutates, it'll be a while before anyone's life becomes endangered._

-o-o-

_This is nice_, Shikamaru thinks, slowly turning the driver's wheel. He peeks at his sleeping girlfriend in the passenger sleep, lips slightly parted as she breathes in through her nose and out through her mouth. It was one of those ever-so-sweet moments in life where she looked like she wasn't going to burst with ideas and whatnot.

Then, the spell is broken. She shakes her head, hair flying all over her face and then she frantically looks around until she meets his eyes. With a tap on his shoulder, she says, "Go to the university and get my mail? I haven't been in lecture halls teacher for several days."

Ino says it quickly, spitting the words out with such speed it takes Shikamaru a few extra seconds of replaying it in his head for him to understand but by then, Ino was settling herself back into sleep. She had already positioned herself against the window; one of Shikamaru's sweaters shoved underneath her head. And she was back in bliss.

He sneaks a peek at her as he drives to Konoha University, a school both of them had graduated from a few years back. Well, he graduated and hasn't stepped on campus since graduation, but she, she has been teaching there as a professor for _quite_ a while, it helps to be super smart and have connections.

The ride is short, and when he parks the car he looks at the campus. It's still as freakishly green as ever with all the freakishly healthy grass. It also still carries a feeling of opportunity and successfulness. _Shit just still looks the same_, he thinks.. Hmph_, I bet it still has a bunch of mutates_. He brushes a hand against Ino's face to clear it of hair before leaving the car.

Shikamaru is a mutate himself; it explains his intelligence and power with shadows. When Sakura gives him the piece of paper confirming Ino as a mutate, his heart sort of flutters. It just ensures that he wouldn't always have to hide the truth from her. However, she has never given him any hint of her knowledge on mutates. He himself knows quite a plentiful from just meeting up with others. Male mutates tend to have much stronger bones therefore leading to a much heavier weight. They usually find out they're mutates early on in their life due to the dramatic changes at around puberty. Women usually never find out. Overall, they have a complete advantage over regular humans due to their heighten senses and certain physical attributes.

Shikamaru looks at the people on the campus, and he makes several quick guesses to who might be mutates. _They're easy to pick out_, he concludes, chuckling to himself and then he makes his way to the University's main entrance. It might have been a few years since last stepping foot into the school, but he still knows the way to the mailboxes and then he searches for his girlfriend's last name on one of the stickers.

Upon finding it, he slides the pan out to look at its contents. There is barely anything there except for a note from a student and a somewhat thick envelope. He takes both the note and the envelope out, shoving the note into his pocket, disregarding it. His attention turns to the envelope, it looks suspicious. It's beige, without a name on it. Ino wouldn't mind if he took a tiny peek.

He turns to the back and instead of the flap being sealed, it's open. _What luck_, he thinks, and then proceeds to pull the flap of the envelope. After doing so successfully without tearing the flap he empties the contents.

His expression is clearly showing that he's bored and he emphasizes it by yawning, but when he turns to look at the contents, his eyes grow large.

They were all pictures. All. He holds the thick stack and flips through it with a finger. They are all pictures of _them_ together. _Them_.

_Nobody_ was supposed to know about them. It wasn't a bad thing they were hanging out together, but it wasn't that great either. The first was of them in a coffee shop, their favorite. He was smiling at the moment the photo was taken and the busty blonde across him was laughing, hand underneath his. It already looked like he was cheating on Ino. Shit after that photo didn't make him look any less of a cheater so Shikamaru just ends up shoving everything in his pocket, discarding the envelop into the waste basket, and just leaves.

He was definitely not cheating on Ino with his new coworker. No matter how the pictures look, he definitely was not. His new coworker was …interesting. Different. A new eye-opener indeed.

But who the fuck was trying to ruin his current relationship?

Then his answer sorta-kinda-eh-not-really-comes when a paper-ball soars over his head. It bounces off the wall and instinctively, he holds his hands out to catch it. He turns around quickly but sees no one, and there are no footsteps or sounds heard of someone running away. Whatever, he thinks. He'll toast the guy's ass once he finds out who it is. It's his life; he'll sort all the trouble out with time.

_Choose_.

It's a single word one the paper. And it was typed too, damn it, he was hoping the guy was dumb enough to write it.

He crumples the piece of paper and throws it into the waste bin with the envelope. Well fuck. Someone has their nose in his business.

Well …he definitely wasn't cheating on Ino with his new coworker Temari. Temari might be just getting a little cozy with him. A little bit too cozy. Doesn't matter, Shikamaru doesn't like her, nope, no, nada, not one tiny bit.

There would be absolutely no chance they would ever end up together.

Right?

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Yay, yay, second chapter! I'm so proud of myself for this chapter! **

**How are you guys enjoying this? You guys should tell me ...in a review!**

**P.S. I'm not ...understanding my other stories. I might continue them? I mean ...I'm not sure about where I stand with them ...**


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